Part 2 of where our taxes go.

QUOTE from Eleanor Roosevelt: "Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't."

LEARNING MORE ABOUT TAXES: Yesterday I listed the 12 most expensive places our federal taxes go. Today I'll list 13 more.

Pell grants..........................$29.75
NASA.................................$28.09
Internal Revenue Service...$17.69
EPA clean-up.....................$11.67
FBI....................................$11.21
Head Start.........................$10.91
Public housing...................$10.50
National parks....................$4.27
Drug Enforcement Admin..$3.14
Amtrak..............................$2.23
Smithsonian Museum........$1.12
Funding for the arts...........$0.24
Salaries/benefits for '
members of Congress.........$0.19

I'm assuming these figures are accurate. I did some research on THIRDWAY.ORG and it appears to be legitimate. It is considered to be a nonpartisan middle-of-the-road think tank. But one question I do have is how much do subsidies to farmers cost? I had that question along with several others. However, in fairness to THIRDWAY, they did say that these 25 were just "starters."

HUMOR for today: REINDEER FACTS: According to the Alaska Dep. of Fish and Game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year, male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late Nov. to mid-December. Female reindeer retain their antlers till after they give birth in the spring. Therefore, according to EVERY historical rendition depicting Santa's reindeer, EVERY single one of them, from Rudolph to Blitzen, had to be a girl. We should've known....ONLY women would be able to drag a fat-ass man in a red velvet suit all around the world in one night and not get lost.

A THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: Having politeness and consideration for others is like investing pennies and getting dollars back.